Sam Hornish Jr. NNS Watkins Glen Preview

August 5, 2008

News and Notes• Sam Hornish Jr., driver of the No. 12 Penske Truck Rental Dodge Charger for Penske Racing, will compete in both the NASCAR Nationwide and Sprint Cup Series events at Watkins Glen International this weekend. • The Zippo 200 will mark Hornish’s second career Nationwide Series road course event. Earlier this season at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Hornish qualified 11th and finished 13th in the Penske Truck Rental Dodge.• This will be Hornish’s first NASCAR Nationwide Series start at the 2.45-mile road course. However, he has a total of three IndyCar Series starts at Watkins Glen International scoring one top-three and two top-10 finishes, with a best finish of second (2007).• The Zippo 200 will be Hornish’s seventh Nationwide Series start of the 2008 season. So far this year, he has an average starting position of 21.1 and an average finishing position of 20. His best finish in 2008 was an 11th place at Darlington Raceway (May 9).

Upcoming Events8/9/08 - 8/10/08: Hornish Jr. will pull “double duty” at Watkins Glen International, competing in both the Nationwide and Cup Series events at the 2.45-mile road course.

8/10/08: Hornish will be on hand to sign autographs at Watkins Glen International at the Mobil 1/Penske Racing souvenir trailer on Sunday morning. He will appear from 9:45 to 10:15 a.m.

Chassis ChatterPBC-009: This weekend’s race car was driven by Hornish earlier this season in Mexico City. Hornish started 11th and finished 13th in that event.PBC-018: The backup car for this weekend was driven by Ryan Newman at Watkins Glen International in August 2007.

Sam Hornish Jr. on Watkins Glen International“I’m excited about our return to road course racing this weekend. The No. 12 Penske Truck Rental team had a strong run earlier this season in Mexico City. We should have had a top-10 finish but I messed up toward the end and it cost us a few positions.

“The corners at Watkins Glen are fast and lead into the straightaways, so it is all about momentum. We ran well with this car in Mexico, and have had the opportunity to test quite a bit, so I feel there is no reason we shouldn’t run just as well, if not better, this weekend at the Glen.”

Crew Chief Matt Gimbel on Watkins Glen International“We ran well with Sam (Hornish) earlier this year in Mexico City. Penske Racing as an organization has had success at Watkins Glen in the past in the Nationwide Series with Kurt Busch and Ryan Newman. We are optimistic that we can repeat that level of success this weekend.

“Sam has done quite a bit of testing in the Nationwide cars this year including having the opportunity to test at Infineon Raceway. He’s familiar with the cars as well as Watkins Glen from his IndyCar Series days. He won’t be a stranger to the track, and based on Mexico, I don’t see any reason why we won’t have a strong run.”

Team Penske is one of the most successful teams in the history of professional sports. Competing in a variety of disciplines, cars owned and prepared by Penske Racing have produced more than 400 major race wins, over 450 pole positions and 27 National Championships. The team has also earned 16 Indianapolis 500 victories in its storied history. Team Penske was also recently recognized by the Sports Business Journal as a finalist for the publication's prestigious annual Professional Sports Team of the Year award.